Cases and hospitalizations are continuing to climb in the Tri-Cities and now the National Guard has been brought in to help.

"They're being utilized in quite a few different ways," Kadlec Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer Kirk Harper said.

Ten members from the National Guard are currently assisting Kadlec with non-clinical tasks, a relief health leaders say they hope will address the strain on state hospitals.

"We are concerned about the rise in cases in eastern Washington and Idaho and how they will ripple across Washington state," Washington State Hospital Association Executive VP Taya Briley said.

The Benton-Franklin Health District announced 97 COVID hospitalizations on Tuesday, a number that continues to climb.

"Because of that contagiousness it is making it harder to staff because we have caregivers getting infected as well," Kadlec Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kevin Pieper said.

Briley said they're seeing an average of 800 to 850 new COVID cases among caregivers.

"There's better days than others and dependent on the number of caregivers out in the area, that impacts them also in how they disseminate the work load collectively," Harper said.

At Kadlec, the National Guard is helping to lighten the workload by taking supplies out to departments as well as watching and transporting patients.

Health leaders said they're just taking it day by day.

"Still there's an impact and a ripple that impacts our intensive care units, acute care units and all our other units that are providing care, so working through that and trying to do our best," Harper said.

Health leaders said the National Guard will be at Kadlec for 30 days, but that timeline could be extended depending on the situation.